


I Need a Little Church

by Artizarra0416



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anxious Adora (She-Ra), Band Fic, F/F, Gay Bar, Human Catra (She-Ra), Human Scorpia (She-Ra), but also Mermista because it's fun, but mostly Catra, catra can sing, drunk!glimmer, in which Adora is gay for literally everyone, it's really hot, scorpia can also sing, she hooks up with Catra anyways
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:27:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29333787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artizarra0416/pseuds/Artizarra0416
Summary: The Best Friend Squad goes out to the new bar downtown to celebrate Glimmer's birthday. A live band happens to be playing and Adora can't stop staring one of the singers.Aka a She-Ra Band AU where Catra and Scorpia are Aly and AJ (except they're not sisters)
Relationships: Adora & Bow & Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Catra & Scorpia (She-Ra)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 127





	I Need a Little Church

**Author's Note:**

> Hello friends, here's a fun little one-shot. If you're wondering, this idea came to me after listening to Aly and AJ on repeat all day. I hope you enjoy!

Adora is not the kind to frequent bars.

This isn't the result of any kind of snobbish attitude or even an aversion to alcohol, she enjoys a good Rum and Coke on her nights off like any other 21 year old. The real setback is a curse known as _crippling social anxiety,_ one that has plagued Adora since she was a child. And bars are the perfect breeding ground for such anxiety: music cranked up way too high, throngs of drunken strangers standing too close, the drunk _men_ in particular who loved to get handsy once they downed their third shot. 

That is not the scene for Adora Grey, no thank you. 

But it's Glimmer's birthday, and she insists on celebrating at the new bar that had just opened downtown. It's called 'Salineas' and apparently, a friend of hers named Mermista or something like that was the owner.

So it's for this reason, along with the multiple promises Glimmer makes that it will be lowkey, not a loud, chaotic night of drunken antics, that Adora agrees to come along. 

"Adora, I promise, this is the perfect place. This is technically a soft opening, so it won't be super crowded, and I think Mermista even said there was gonna be live music!" 

Live music. Adora has to admit that sounds much more enjoyable than her last bar encounter, where the DJ had blasted the Worst Pop Charters all night, with the bass cranked so high she could feel it reverberating in her chest. That night Adora had left early, lest she have another anxiety attack in a filthy, sticky bathroom, hiding from wasted girls trying and failing to re-apply their lipstick. 

Plus, this was for Glimmer. She can sweat a couple of hours for her. 

And that's how Adora finds herself sitting at the Salineas Bar at 7 pm on a Friday night. She's relieved to find that Glimmer was right about the soft-opening and the not-crowded part. There are only three to four other patrons in the whole place, sipping on their drinks at wooden high-tops. Adora also finds that she likes the atmosphere of this place much more than any other bar she has encountered, this one is _clean,_ with warm light pouring from sea-shell-shaped ceiling lamps. There're a couple of rows of booths with nice, leather cushioning, some more tables scattered through the center, each decorated with white lily centerpieces, and of course the bar, shiny polished wood with pristinely organized shelves of booze. 

Then there's Mermista, an absurdly attractive woman with dark blue hair and striking hazel eyes which were even more striking when paired with a neat coat of dark lipstick. Adora has to pick her jaw up at least twice while staring at this woman, trying not to let her eyes dip below the waistline as she saunters around the bar in black leather pants. 

Gods help her. 

She's so busy drooling she hardly notices when Glimmer elbows her right in the ribs.

"Adora? You want anything?"

Mermista fixes her eyes on Adora's, leaning over the bar, her unbuttoned white shirt revealing more than an eyeful of beautiful bronze skin and the edges of a lacy, maroon bralette. 

"What can I do for you beautiful?" Mermista asks, batting her eyelashes

Adora nearly keels over on the spot, her face burning hotter than the sun, as she attempted to form a coherent sentence. 

"I, uh, can I, uh, can I get a Twisted Tea, please?"

Apparently, Mermista is not done playing with her, as she responds with a smirk that should be downright sinful

"Honey, you keep staring at me like that and you can get whatever you want."

Adora turns to Glimmer incredulously as Mermista turns away to make her drink, blushing a brighter red than her sports jacket. 

Glimmer chuckles, "Probably should've warned you, Mermista's a bit of a flirt." 

Adora clears her throat awkwardly, she isn't used to such brazen flirtation, "You don't say."

Thankfully, Bow arrives before Glimmer can poke fun at Adora's awkwardness further, and the three friends quickly fall into an easy rhythm of chatter and laughter. Mermista still flirts shamelessly with Adora throughout the night, and every time she barely recovers, but it makes her feel better when Bow becomes just as flustered under the attention when Mermista switches it up and directs it towards him. Glimmer only cackles, very used to the young bartender's antics. 

Adora has to admit she's having fun, more fun than she could ever remember having at a bar. Salineas would maybe become a regular watering-hole for her. 

"Oooh!! It looks like the band is here!!" Glimmer cheers, halfway through her second drink and already a little tipsy. 

Adora turns towards the front of the bar, and her jaw drops for not the first time that evening, but definitely the hardest.

The band in question is two women, one with an electric guitar, the other setting up what looked like an electric drumset. The woman on the drums is huge, at least six feet tall with hulking muscles that Adora can't help but seriously envy. She has short, white hair that's slicked back neatly, and a series of tattoos that spiral down her back and arms, visible through the navy blue tank top she's sporting. She looks like she could beat everyone in this bar to a pulp in seconds, yet she has soft eyes and the kindest smile. 

But it's the other woman on the guitar that completely unhinges Adora's jaw from her skull. She's a mess of dark curls wrangled back into a ponytail, dressed in ripped jeans and a leather jacket, and if Mermista's smirk is sinful, hers is deadly. Maybe it's the alcohol beginning to buzz its way through her veins, but Adora finds herself overwhelmed with the insatiable desire to know this woman, know her name, what she liked and disliked, how she tasted, what she sounded like in bed...

_Whoaaaaaaa, slow your roll, Adora. You're drunk, time for some water._

She blatantly ignores the fact that she had only just started her second drink.

In an attempt to sate her curiosity she leans over to her pair of friends, 

"Do you know them?" she asks.

"I know the tall one with the white hair is Scorpia," Bow answers, "She sometimes comes down to the library, she'll talk with my dads for hours about books, especially ones about music, they love her."

Adora can't help but smile at the thought of this huge, intimidating woman deep in conversation with the local librarians about music books. 

"...what about the other girl?" Adora asks, attempting to sound passive. 

"No idea, I've never seen her around before," Bow replies.

"You think she's hot don't you?" Glimmer interjects.

Adora straightens up so quickly she nearly knocks her drink over, "What?! No I don't!! I'm just curious about the band!!" she insists. 

Glimmer snorts, "Oh, please, Adora you're worse with her than you were with Mermista, your staring is not exactly subtle." 

Adora crosses her arms and huffs, embarrassed at being called out, but still dying to know at least what the other girl's name is. 

Luckily, Scorpia chooses then to grab the mic, albeit a little awkwardly, and speak into it.

"Hello Etheria!" her voice is way too loud for the mic and results in a bunch of plugged ears and the mystery girl beside her frantically gesturing for her to lower her voice. 

Her face goes red and she smiles awkwardly, "Heh, sorry about that folks," she says, at a much lower volume, "I'm Scorpia, and this is Catra, and we're gonna be playing for you guys tonight!"

_Catra._

_Catra. Catra. Catra._

The name reels in Adora's head over and over, she even lets it roll silently off her lips just to feel how the syllables curl around her tongue.

Catra. Beautiful. 

Her eyes are completely fixed on _Catra_ as she adjusts the electric blue guitar hanging down by her waist, and _damn_ if that is not the sexiest thing she's seen all night. Catra then walks up to the mic, adjusts the strap of her guitar one last time, and speaks,

"This song is called Church" 

Her voice when she speaks is low and gravelly, it leaves Adora wanting to drink it in like it's the elixir of life. But when she starts to sing, Adora feels every nerve in her body come alive.

_I do bad things for the sake of good times, I don't, I don't regret_

_Call me what you will, yeah, I'm in it for the thrill, I'm just, I'm just selfish_

Catra's voice jumps up an octave, a soft soprano that's gentle and smooth as silk. Adora is incredulous that such a dichotomy of sound can come from one being. But here's Catra, selfish, hellbent, and reckless. 

She and Scorpia have an incredible sound, the kind of sound that doesn't need to be loud to be powerful and easily takes over the crowd. And as Catra sings, Adora finds herself wanting to know every single sin she's ever committed, wanting to be one of those bad things done for the sake of a good time. 

_Let me be your next mistake,_ Adora thinks. 

She isn't sure where these thoughts are coming from, she never thinks like this, but there's something about Catra, about her and her guitar, and the song she's singing. Something about it all is setting Adora on fire and she never wants to be put out. She wants to be set aflame by Catra over and over until she's nothing but a pile of ash. 

She must definitely be drunk. 

But then the last round of the chorus comes around and Catra's eyes are locked right on hers, (at least she thinks they're locked on hers?) and Adora is paralyzed. 

_For all the times I can't reverse_

_For all the places where it hurts_

_I need a little church_

It is at that moment that Adora makes up her mind. Socially anxious, awkward-as-all-hell Adora, decides right at this moment that she is going to approach this woman. What is she going to say? Who knows. But she is going to talk to her even if it kills her.

Which it might. 

They play two more songs before going on break, and for each one, Adora is completely and utterly entranced. The way Catra's lips move, the deft movements of her fingers along the frets of her guitar, the head-shake she'll do when stray bits of hair fall into her face, Adora knows it all by heart now. She tries to remind herself not to be a creep, that she doesn't even know this woman, but she can't help but observe intently. 

In this case, the bobbing motion of Catra's throat as she downs her water bottle. 

_Here goes nothing._

_"_ Uh, I'll be right back guys," she says, not so discreetly.

"Whoooo!!! Yeah Adora!!! Get some!!!!" Glimmer shouts, well past drunk at this point. 

Adora cringes, prays that no one important heard that, and begins to make her way over to where Catra is sitting on her stool, fiddling with her guitar. Somehow, with the careless way her legs are propped up, she makes even sitting down look sexy. 

Catra's eyes lift once Adora is just a few feet away, and she is shocked to find two different colors staring at her, one ocean blue, the other a soft hazel. Just when she thought Catra couldn't be any more beautiful. 

"Uh, hi," Adora says, now painfully aware of the fact that she has absolutely _nothing_ rehearsed to say. 

Catra gifts her with a smirk, "Hi, can I help you?" 

Adora swallows, determined to ignore the burning in her cheeks and the anxiety gnawing at her insides. 

"Uh, I, uh...you sound really good."

_Wow, good one Adora. Real smooth._

Catra chuckles lowly, a sound that sends Adora's heart right into her mouth. 

"Thanks, always a pleasure to meet a fan. Now, what do you want, princess? An autograph?" She can tell Catra is teasing, but Adora is still stuck on the words ' _what do you want, princess'_

_What do I want?_

_I want you._

Adora then makes another decision unheard of in the Adora Grey history books, she decides to say _fuck it._

"Look I'm gonna be honest...I haven't been able to stop staring at you since the moment you walked in. I think you're really, stupidly hot and you have an amazing singing voice and I am very much attracted to you and have been working up the courage to talk to you all night aaaand I'm just now realizing I don't even know if you swing that way. Well, this was fun, I'm gonna go now." 

Adora is just about to throw herself out the nearest window from sheer embarrassment when Catra stops her with a hand on her arm. Her grip is soft but firm and Adora can literally feel the skin beneath her palm burning up at her touch. 

"Whoa, whoa, hold up princess. You don't get to just tell me you think I'm stupid hot and then walk out on me." She's wearing a positively devious smirk, and that combined with how she eyes Adora up and down, is enough to turn her insides to goo. 

Adora can't help but grin, "So...you're..?"

Catra's smirk grows, "If the outfit and the man-spreading didn't already give it away, yeah, super queer." 

"Yay!! Er, I mean, cool, that's cool."

_J_ _eez, Adora get it together._

Catra laughs, an adorable, squeaky laugh that isn't what Adora expects, but makes her all the more enthralled.

"You're cute blondie." 

Before Adora can completely short-circuit from the compliment, Catra's calling over to Scorpia, "Yo, Scorp, you can go solo for the next set. I gotta do something real quick."  
  
Scorpia's face lights up like the Fourth of July and she's so excited she doesn't even question what Catra could possibly need to do in the middle of a set. 

Then Catra's voice is in Adora's ear, low and husky, "Come with me."

Adora can only nod along dumbly and let herself be led through the bar, which has picked up a decent crowd over the last hour, and into the bathroom. She's relieved to find it is not a filthy, sticky bathroom that reeks of urine and beer. In fact, it's a single bathroom, one toilet, one sink...

And a lock on the door.

It's in one swift motion that Catra twists said lock and pushes Adora up against the door, a thigh slotted between hers, millimeters of space between them. Adora sucks in a breath, her heart is stuttering rapidly in her chest. With Catra this close to her, she can make out the freckles scattered about her cheeks, and can only breathe in the thick, lavender scent of her perfume. 

"Is this what you wanted, princess?" Catra asks, a fire alight in her eyes. 

"I have a name, you know," Adora retorts, not that she exactly minds the term of...endearment? 

Catra leans in closer, her lips only a breath away, "Tell me, then." 

Adora almost forgets her name in that moment, as she feels Catra's hands grip her hips, fingers toying with the hem of her shirt.

"Ah, Adora," she breathes out. 

" _Adora_ ," Catra repeats, breathless and thick with lust. Adora could get used to her name sounding like _that._

The two stare at each other, chests heaving, for a moment, the longest moment either of them have experienced. It's a game somehow, to see who will break first. And while Adora could very well stare at Catra all night long, she wants more than anything to kiss her.

But Catra is the one who breaks first, kissing Adora with a fervent passion. Lips are on lips and hands are in her hair and Adora is convinced she is drowning. No, that's not it. Drowning would mean she can't breathe, and she feels, right now, like she has just come up for air for the very first time. 

Kissing Catra brings her to life. 

So she meets her with equal passion, daring herself to slip her hands underneath Catra's shirt and rake her nails down the plane of her stomach, drunk on the feel of hot skin and taking immense pleasure in the way Catra shudders and gasps in response. 

Adora responds with a gasp of her own when Catra retaliates by grabbing her ass roughly and sneaking her tongue into her mouth, leaving her dizzy.

Adora would never have imagined herself to be making out in the restroom of a bar, with a complete stranger, normally her anxiety would never allow such a thing. If you had told her just a few hours ago that this is where she'd end up, she would've laughed herself silly.

But somehow it all feels right, Catra feels _right._

Flames of desire begin licking up her core, and Adora can't restrain herself any longer from grinding her hips against Catra's leg, which is still wedged between her own two. She practically mewls when Catra slowly pulls away seconds later.

"Trust me, as much as I want to keep this going...I do have a set to finish," Catra says, frowning deeply.

Adora takes a second to catch her breath, "Well...maybe we can pick this up later?" it's not meant to come out as a question, Adora is trying so hard to keep on her confident streak, but she can't help but feel nervous and giddy, like a small child. 

Catra smiles, "I'd like that." 

  
The two emerge from the bathroom once they are certain no eyes are aimed in their direction, Catra meeting up with Scorpia, and Adora rejoining Bow and Glimmer, who are in the midst of a very serious thumb-war. 

"Adora!!!" Bow shouts happily, a little drunk now himself

Glimmer smirks up at her, "You totally got it on with that singer didn't you."

Adora blushes for the 100th time that evening, "No!!"

"Then why is your hair all messed up?" Glimmer asks.

Adora runs a hand through it instinctively, completely having forgotten to tuck it back into place. "Fuck." 

But before her friends can ruthlessly pry details from her, Catra and Scorpia are back on stage.

And Adora knows she's not making it up when she sees Catra glance her way multiple times through the entire rest of the set. 

**Author's Note:**

> Music and lyrics belong to Aly and AJ


End file.
